******************************************************** So I was flipping back through the old blog, reflecting on my time spent in Australia getting my masters in gastronomy, and I realized something shocking–I’ve stopped regularly posting gastronomic entries! In Australia, I tried to post at least a few gastronomic ponderings a month! Of course, I am no longer taking grad school classes that inundate me with gastronomic questions and situations, nor have I read any of the last 768 emails I received from my food writing group that usually inspire me, the ASFS listserv (and I’m not lying. All 768 are chillin in my inbox, taunting me daily). What the hell, Leena? Can’t handle an international move back to eternal winter, creating a food communication career from scratch AND a few gastronomic musings a month? Nope. But let’s change that, shall we? ******************************************************* I wasn’t allowed to take home ec/cooking classes in high school. My guidance counselor told me that they were for people not planning on attending a four year college, so honors psychology and anthropology would be a better choice for my senior year class schedule. The general consensus among students was that people taking cooking classes in high school probably wouldn’t amount to anything. I was denied entrance into what could have been a life-changing class, but I was a tenacious little git, even back then, and was bound and determined to get food into any honors or elective class I was forced to take. It started off small–I would defiantly bring leftovers from lunch to my classes and sneak a bite when the teacher wasn’t looking. A friend brought me donuts to share for my birthday, and I even convinced my honors English class that we needed to order pizzas for our next “reading” day. But I am most proud of the party I convinced my anthropology teacher to throw at the end of the year. Admittedly, this teacher was a bit wacky. He loved to grab a giant orange construction cone that was in his classroom and yell at random students walking by the window, and he even started a club that had no purpose but to love pyramids. We were talking in class one day about different cultures and the food they consume, and that is when I saw my in. I suggested a party where everyone in class brings some food from a different culture of the world, so we could get a true experience of anthropology…and he actually bought it. On the last day of class, I dined on pork tamales, homemade hummus, Indian halvas…it was the first of many food-related scores my life would achieve. I’m feeling nostalgic about my early foodie years because tarting February 2009, I will be teaching a food studies class at a local high school. Why food studies and not cooking? The school doesn’t have cooking facilities that students are allowed to use, and frankly, I like my degree in gastronomy much better than my degree in culinary arts. I am basically trying to make my dream class if I were a high school student, which means food, food and more food. It is a two hour class that meets once a week, so I will have plenty of time to work with. My plan is to try to teach the students how intertwined food and culture are, starting off with territory they are already familiar with: popular American foods. Each week, we will explore a different popular American food, like the hot dog or pizza. I plan on lecturing about the food’s history, the food’s foodway to the U.S. (or how it got here and where it has been), examples of the food within popular American culture, and possible viewing a few movie or television clips related to the topic. Then we will do a food lab, or something that allows the student to experience food in a new way while also eating food. One day it might be a food tour of Chicago’s Vienna Beef company, or a taste test of Chicago’s top deep dish pizzas. Other days, there will be a cooking demo (thanks to my trusty portable burner!), and of course, plenty of eating. I plan on ending the class with a food writing session inspired by the daily topic. I am still working out the details for the writing section, but I thought it would be really cool to pick a different style of food writing each week, (like perhaps food poetry one week, first person essay the next, research/fact-based after that, recipe story after that)and have the students write about the daily topic in that style. I could split them into teams of three and have them pick their favorite writing pieces for each style from their group and create their own food magazine for high school students at the end of the year. The goal would be to expose them to as many different kinds of food writing as possible, and force them to see food from more than just one angle. So that is it! Those are my ideas, and I am totally open to suggestions and comments. How would you structure your own food studies class? I will probably be documenting my class on this blog, so be on the lookout for it. I’m about to rock the gastronomic socks off of these kids. Hmm, that sounds a bit Catholic priest-ish to me. How about I’m just gonna stuff ‘em full of bacon and make them watch episodes of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain with me? Much better. ~LTG!
